The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa Marshalls, St. Joseph College of Bulacan and the First City Providential College Taurus came through with big wins at start of the 16th Fr. Martin Cup Division 2 basketball tournament last Saturday.
The Marshalls, behind Daniel Austria, James Gemao and Jan Posada, started strong and put away the National University-B Bullpups, 85-69, at the St. Placid gymnasium inside San Beda-Manila campus in Mendiola.
This put the Marshalls in the early lead of Group A of the senior division, which attracted 15 collegiate squads.
Austria led with 18 points for the Marshalls, who also got 16 and 14 points from Gemao and Posada, respectively.
SJC-Bulacan, whose participation was made possible through athletic director Willy Ventura, drew 27 points from Mark Javier in its 94-68 thumping of San Beda University-Manila B in Group A of the junior division.
Theo Pabico shot a game-high 33 points in leading the the FCPC Taurus to a 115-109 upset of the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs in double overtime.
Pabico’s drive and three charities in the last 33 seconds settled the score in favor of the Taurus.
Austria scored 8 points in the first period as the Marshalls quickly took the helm, 19-13.
The Marshalls got three of four triples they scored from Austria in the second period as they went on to lead by as much as 16 points, 42-26, at halftime.
A total of 16 high school squads have joined this tournament, held in honor of Fr. Edgar Martin, according to commissioner Robert de la Rosa.